Have you taken a strategic level OT exam? Difficult? Easy?

Was studying for the Strategic Case study and heard the negative feedback about the tests from the tutors and came searching online for info. I passed all my Strategic Level exams in the new syllabus in first attempt. Got all three over in like 20 days flat so as to catch the Case Study Cutoff deadline.

My feedback as follows:

- The competency required for passing is more on judgement and concept clarity rather than mugging up or sample question. There cannot be statements such as "You will get one consolidation and one learning curve or ABC costing surely".
- This makes the tuition that you receive more crucial as concepts need to be absolutely clear while self study students will be well advised to refer online for more clear explanations or more AV resources.
- English reading and comprehension skills are key. There are subtle differences in the answers and these make it tougher to spot where you are going wrong.
- The exam technique needs to also focus on ruling out the obviously wrong ones. This is very helpful in the select all types and i got a lot of these in P3.
- Time pressure is there but i used an instinctive approach whereby if i am unable to get a good feel about the question in the first 30 seconds I used to flag it for review and go ahead. Come back once you have completed. in P3 for example i had about 6 questions flagged and 5 min left. Was able to solve 3 and guessed 2 one of then was input based and hence no guessing.
- I found that if you have done tuition of some sort it might be a better way of doing questions and revising the theory if answer wrong i.e. go back to book to refer rather that read the book thoroughly and then attempt. For self study, there is no option but to read an explore concepts first.
- The onscreen calculator is horrible and CIMA need allow own calculator for the future as well. Same is the case of the joke that they called as the physical scratch pad. But to be honest it had use only in P3 (bit) and F3 (mostly).
- I would have really liked to have the scores if not in marks at least how many correct question as this would have been a better indicator of competency and could serve as motivating / feedback factor.

What I used:

Kaplan Material provided and various mocks provider by my tuition provider.

Hope the above helped and all the best.

Cheers!!!

Hi,

Does any one know about P3 and F3 review is it sorted now?

I am so tired of CIMA...... mid june? they said mid-may..... i'm seriously thinking of switching to ACCA.... they seem to be more consistent.... CIMA is playing with it's students.... 

Hi,

I just sat the F3 OT first the first time on 5th June. I have never entered an exam feeling that I knew the syllabus so well, so from this point I felt confident, however the OT I found IMPOSSIBLE! The questions had too much information to read and take in and no where near enough time. Because of this I quickly ran out of time which made me more panicked the further I got into exam as I could see I was going to fail and of course, I did FAIL! I felt i would have stood a chance answering the questions correctly if there was a realistic amount of time to take in the information in the scenario and have a chance to think and calculate. All I could think was - this is ridiculous and this is impossible.

I came out of the exam gutted as I worked the hardest I had ever worked preparing for the exam, only to feel I never stood a chance at passing it. I felt as though CIMA were trying to make people fail it by not giving them a fair chance. I won't be sitting an exam again until CIMA sort their act out, and stop making their students waste their time and money!

Hi All,

Any new news on the strategic exams and what CIMA plans to do?

I wrote F3 the 12th of June and found it exactly as everyone here said. I went into the exam very positive, but came out distraught! Only after the exam did I start looking up what other students are saying and felt a bit better to know I am not alone.

I failed - all I know is I was only proficient in one of the three areas. This is such useless information without a mark. The test is impossible to do in 90 seconds per question. I don't know if I was just unlucky, but I had NO short questions. I couldn't even properly read the questions in the given time, never mind calculate. What is this actually testing?

As most of you I could also do all the BPP questions and the online Pearson VU practice exam - what a joke!! These questions were far below the exam questions standard.

I am so upset about the time and money I wasted on this exam. And on CIMA so far as I do not see how I can continue. I cannot study harder than I did - I don't think I will ever pass this test with the ridiculous time constraint and lack of on-standard study material and practice questions. Passing this exam is like winning the lotto - except the ticket is way more expensive.

This is becoming very frustrating, especially reading all the reviews about students working so hard but yet failing. This should suggest to CIMA that there is something not right about their new syllabus and the way of testing students is very unfair. Its more luck than anything now, depending on who gets the easy questions.

I sat P3 a few days ago and failed which I wasn't surprised about. Too many select all that apply questions. I feel like I am trying to work out what the examiner is thinking, rather than saying what I think the answer is and being able to justify it. Like others, I have never worked so hard and then to have all of it over within 1.5hours. Was looking forward to some free time but now I have to go back to the books. CIMA is just becoming a money making machine - tempted to change to ACCA!

www.cimaglobal.com/About-us/Press-office/Press-releases/2015/First-Objective-Test-Pass-Results-2015-Syllabus/

This is the pass rates that we as students should be happy with? Not even half the students (that already have an advanced CIMA diploma) can pass strategic level F3 and P3. Does this not show that something is seriously wrong with the new syllabus?

What a sad joke this is turning out to be. I emailed CIMA about two weeks ago and still no reply. I also requested a refund for my exam entry fee (or a free rewrite), on the basis that I never would have booked an F3 exam on the date which I did, had I known that I only had a "45%" chance of passing, mainly because the accredited study material is so inadequate. I am not going to give up just yet, but I will not waste my money on another exam until I see evidence that CIMA has turned things around to improve pass rates. In the meantime, I believe the best thing to do is continue studying the material I have already bought, investing just enough time to keep the course content fresh in my memory. My concern is that CIMA's recent display of poor management is going to get it into some serious trouble.

Hi Everyone,

I sit P3 OT last Friday and surprise surprise I failed.

I would like to share my observations:

I know why I failed!


Not because I was not prepared - I am prepared very well!!!!


Not because I am missing competences in some areas - I have those competencies just this exam didn't allow me to show them!!!!


Not because bad time management - I followed CIMA instructions but when I skipped the lengthy questions it looked like I would have to skip 80% of them so I wasted time before I realised what is going on.


Not because other commitment got in the way - I devoted every moment I had to prepare for this exam., I feel like I neglected my family and friends.





I FAILED BECAUSE THIS TEST IS DESIGNED TO BE FAILED:


1. LENGTHY QUESTIONS - which takes 1 minute or longer to read and understand!


2. LENGTHY OPTIONS TO CHOOSE FROM - which take 1-2 minutes to read, understand and match with question (probably more if you would like to make sure you didn't miss anything)


3. PROPORTION OF "SELECT ALL THAT APPLY" COMBINED WITH POINT 2 - it was at least 50% of them


4. QUESTIONS WITH CALCULATIONS COMBINED WITH POINT 1 - they take about 2.5 minutes to answer.


5. LACK APPROPRIATE QUESTIONS TO PRACTICE ON (but probably this is the least important in the light of points above) - I had pass on your (VUE) practice exam 93% on others providers on average 85-95% (I did about 1000 questions from various providers). That did allow me to believe I was ready and that is why I sit the exam. Of course now I do understand that was to mislead students particularly the VUE one.





OT gives students 1.5 minute per question so do your math and try reconcile this to the points above.





I thought that CIMA qualification is preparation for being a top financial manager who makes strategic decisions??!! I think I was mistaken - could anybody tell me which organisation require to make strategic decisions in 30 seconds? 

The other think. I found a lot of mistakes in other providers exam kits including CIMA recommended Kaplan. Mistakes were mostly in answers but sometime even in questions (missing word "not" for example) and sometimes in matching correct answer to the question. Basically I was doing audit on these exam kits (it is a shame I was not paid for that). So what assurance we students have  that these mistakes are not in CIMA data base?



CIMA suppose to revise OT in May. They said they did but I don't think so. How many people had they results really revised?



CIMA sent me this "don't give" up e-mail with this touchy motto (I am sure those who failed OT received this):

“Good things come to those who believe, better things come to those who are patient and the best things come to those who don’t give up.” - unknown





I like this and always applied in my life.





Lets paraphrase this:





“Good things come to those who believe, better things come to those who are patient and the best things come to those who know when to give up on lost matters and are able to focus on successful ones.”





Conclusion: - I am not going to pump any more money into lost cause and CIMA recapping investment costs (I think reality exceeded CIMA's expectations) !!! I choose abandonment real option!

Good luck for those who still believe.

Hi Everyone

I sat F3 on Monday the 27th of July and passed on my first attempt under the new syllabus. I agree the exam is very difficult not because of the level of work but how the exam is set out. The questions are very long with lots of information to process in a short period of time.

I used quite a few tuition providers : Kaplan ; First Tuition ;BPP;Acorn and Astranti.Kaplan and First Tuition for me was the best .I also attempted all the questions and mocks under timed conditions. I also attempted the Kaplan intergrated questions of the Study text , which I believe made the difference. In the exam you must be able to read fast and select the info that is relevant to the question. This experience I gained from the Kaplan intergrated questions.

The amount of the hours you must in also important . i studied for 4 weeks 5 hours during the weekday which was 2 hours in the morning before work and 3 hours at night after work. Weekends was toatlly devoted to studying.

Also read the comments on Facebook as the guys do share the expereince.

So please dont give up you came so far. You will be able to pass.

kind regards
Tracey

Good day,

Is anyone out there able to tell me whether or not the 'cimastudy Aptitude' products (the ones for 6 quid) are of any use at strategic level OT for E3 or F3? Their flimsy website doesn't seem to work and can't even allow me to make a purchase, which is never a good signal.
Also, can someone please tell me how the Acorn E3 OT exam practice kit questions compare to the actual E3 exam questions in terms of difficulty level? I ask this because I experienced huge differences between BPP practice questions and actual exam questions with F3. I know the Acorn material and 700 questions inside out but honestly Im not sure if this is enough to pass. There are a lot of one-liner questions in there. I can tell you with certainty that the quality of the Acorn practice kit is absolute dog s@#t as far as error count and grammar goes, but I guess we are expected to work around that.

Many thanks!

 Hi Maurizioganz I'm considering purchasing the Kaplan practice kit for F3 how would you say that compared to the actual exam? I currently have the bpp material which I don't feel is any help. Any advise, thoughts much appreciated. 

Congratulations on on your passes and good luck with the next one. 

Hi Peterwhite... congrats on passing all the OT Strat exams... how many hours a day did you study?

I have so far sat F3 only and passed at the 2nd attempt (after the pass % was dropped).

I didn't study as long hours as some of those mentioned in the thread but took as long as I needed until I was comfortable and ready to sit (I will not again sit within the time frame to obtain the passplus, with the likes of BPP and Kaplan, as I think this is out of order on students who are somewhat forced to sit when not prepared enough - £115 down the drain in most cases - and i say somewhat forced because students should make up their own mind when they sit regardless of the service providers package sold. 

I found my problem from the first time round was my understanding of the content in the short time allowed. the more i practiced and audited answers, the more sense the questions made. I studied with BPP (not - not good enough on its own to pass in my opinion), and also used Kaplan exam practice kit and 3 exams purchased from astranti as well as the free paper on the cima website.

I worked on the basis of trying to achieve 10% more than the actual pass mark, so I was aiming for 80% even after the pass mark was dropped. this seemed to work for me as I was left with extra 5-10mins even after answering and reviewing all questions. hopefully E3 works for me in this way (in a few weeks), and as I see people seem to struggle with P3 I will be adding additional material to attempt to pass. I began studying E3 in august, and only now feel prepared to sit (3 months in total), but thats me - everyone is different and kudos to those that study hard enough to pass in shorter space of time

The biggest problem I still believe with the service providers is that not a single one of them provide enough practice questions, so bearing that in mind I don't believe any one of them value for money - although based on reading kaplan seems to be better than others.